Creator Introduction
Hideharu Maeda
MAEDA TATEGU
The idea for "Rittai Kumiko" came to us almost as a coincidence, when we were thinking about starting a new movement separate from the order-made furniture we normally produce for Kagu no Machi and Okawa. It began when we took the small wooden parts that we were so intimately familiar with while making shoji and fusuma, and came up with the idea to use them to make something three dimensional instead of two.Rittai Kumiko is made using only small wooden parts, 9mm on each side. The larger products carry an overwhelming sense of force. From now on, we aim to develop products both unique in design and practical in use, ranging from wall art, tables, lighting to partitions, to serve not only Japanese customers, but to expand overseas as well. We are providing architects and construction workers of the world our "Rittai Kumiko" a product that pays attention to their professional demands, while fitting in nicely with the image of any place.
38th National Furniture Exhibition - Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award
39th National Furniture Exhibition - Kanagawa Prefucture Governor Award
First-Class Technician
/ Second-Class Architect
A bold new step in the history of
Kagu no Machi - Okawa.
The city of Okawa, where our factories are located, takes pride in being a woodmaking city with the highest furniture output in Japan, and which has enjoyed prosperity for being the spot where wood material from faraway lands swept along by the Chikugo river, itself a class A river with a history that goes back about 500 years, accumulates. It is thanks to the skills of the artisans polished throughout the course of history that our cabinetwork and kumiko, assembled without using nails, earned their popularity. Each of our factories and production facilities create their own originality, and hone their techniques together, to continue broadcasting our appeal as an "Interior City" to not only Japan, but also the world beyond.Our "Rittai Kumiko", which has just taken its first baby steps into the world, is also one of the many products that were born from this town. We sincerely hope it will become the first new step towards building the next chapter in Okawa's history.